Chris Grainger-Herr takes us through IWC’s 2025 releases, including that one Brad Pitt watch you’ve been wondering about
Buffy AcaciaIt feels like IWC has never had more momentum going into a fresh year. Even after dropping jaws last year with its highly complicated Portugieser Eternal Calendar, enthusiasts are going feral for its Ingenieur releases in 2025. Whether you chalk it up to the anticipation of IWC being heavily featured in the upcoming F1 movie starring Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, and Kerry Condon, or simply the current obsession with integrated bracelet watches, Andrew toured the IWC booth at Watches & Wonders with CEO Christoph Grainger-Herr to find out exactly what’s in store for 2025.
Hype for the F1 film has been pretty strong from the beginning, but now we’re at a point where set leaks and teaser trailers are rampant. We were quick to report on Brad Pitt’s custom IWC Ingenieur once photos were leaked from the film set, but aside from confirmation of it being a vintage reference 1832 from 1976, we could only speculate on its origins. Now, Grainger-Herr confirmed that it was the result of a personal request from Pitt himself, requesting that specific reference with a green dial and half of the case thickness removed.
That’s a tall order, but for his kind of star power, IWC got the job done. IWC then decided to release a 1,000-piece limited edition Ingenieur with all of its modern perks but retaining that same green hue. For more intimate knowledge of the film, including how cameras designed for fighter jets were attached to Formula 1 cars to shoot the footage, you’d better watch the interview.
Now for the big watch releases, it’s hard to go past the IWC Ingenieur Automatic 42 in black ceramic. It’s totally murdered out with the exception of the luminous markers and hands for legibility, and the matte black finish can take some serious abuse thanks to ceramic’s scratch resistance. It’s not just a technical achievement but also a callback to 1986 when IWC was the first brand to release an all-ceramic wristwatch.
If your tastes are more geared towards high luxury, then there are some precious metal options now available also. An Ingenieur in a 40mm 5N red gold case is certainly going to be nice and hefty on the average wrist, despite only being 10.8mm tall. Then, for those who want something more compact, the 35mm references in gold or steel hit their shrunken proportions on the head.
Finally, the classicists have been catered to with the Ingenieur Perpetual Calendar with a stunning blue dial and a 100m water resistance for no limitations of activity. But IWC wasn’t all about the Ingenieur this year, as the upcoming movie will also feature pieces from its Pilot’s Watch collection…
The highlight here is likely the new, skeletonised Shock Absorber Tourbillon XPL, using technology from the recent watch made for Mercedes F1 team boss Toto Wolff, but integrating a tourbillon escapement. And if perpetual calendars are more your thing, the Pilot’s Watch Perpetual Calendar Digital Date-Month could be one of the sleepers of the fair…